Stay Gold (horse)

Stay Gold (ステイゴールド, Hong Kong name: 黃金旅程, March 24, 1994 – February 5, 2015) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who had his greatest success in international races. He was sired by Sunday Silence and was out of the mare Golden Sash, a daughter of Dictus. He was famously known as a "Silver Collector", as he often placed second but was unable to win in major grade 1 races. He was later given the nickname of "Godolphin Killer" after he notably won both the Dubai Sheema Classic and Hong Kong Vase towards the end of his career.^[1] In both races, he defeated notable Godolphin horses, Fantastic Light and Ekraar respectively. He also became a successful sire in Japan after his retirement from racing.

Stay Gold was bred at the Shadai Group's Shiraoi Farm in Shiraoi, Hokkaido. He was notable for being a very small horse, standing 15.3 hands (160 cm) tall at maturity,^[2] and weighing a maximum of 436 kilograms (961 lb) during his racing career. One of his defining traits other than his rather small physical stature was his personality - Stay Gold was a particularly violent and bad mannered horse, with his trainer Yasutoshi Ikee remarking that "he was so violent, he might even eat meat if I gave it to him,"^[3] and his jockey Shigefumi Kumazawa saying that Stay Gold would rear, kick and bite even during regular exercise.^[4]

Stay Gold made his racing debut at Hanshin Racecourse on December 1, 1996 and won his first race, a 4 year-old maiden race on 11 May 1997. He would then go on to win 2 more races, the latter of which being the "Lake Akan-ko special (阿寒湖特別)" on September 6, 1997. He would not win another race for approximately two years and eight months, from 6 September 1997, to 20 May 2000.^[5]

In the years of 1998 to 2000, Stay Gold ran prominently in many of Japan's top races, including the Diamond Stakes, Tenno Sho (Spring), Takarazuka Kinen, Arima Kinen, and Tenno Sho (Autumn). He collected 9 places and 7 shows, but victory proved elusive.

Despite the fact that he had not won any graded races thus far, Stay Gold accumulated significant earnings due to his consistent podium placements. His title was "Major Racing Wins: Lake Akan-ko special" and he was deemed "the successor to Nice Nature," another Japanese racehorse who won 6 graded races but was better known for his many placed efforts.

On May 20, 2000, he was ridden by Yutaka Take and in the Meguro Kinen and obtained victory for the first time in 2 years and 8 months. It would be his only win of the year.

The year 2001 began with Stay Gold winning first place in the Grade II Nikkei Shinshun Hai. He then aimed at the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G2:then) at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. Fantastic Light, winner of the previous year's World Series Racing Championship, was the clear favourite, with Stay Gold a 33-1 shot. Fantastic Light took the lead a furlong out, but Stay Gold rallied to get up on the line, winning by a nose after finding an opportunity to move through a gap in the final straight.^[6] It was the first victory outside Japan for Sunday Silence's progeny.

In October 2001, he took on two of Japan's best thoroughbreds, T M Opera O and Narita Top Road, in the Kyoto Daishoten and attained first place. However, during the race he cut off Narita Top Road, injuring both the horse and his jockey, and leading to his disqualification from the race.^[7][8]

His last run was Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin Racecourse, Hong Kong. There, he wore a saddle towel with his name written as "黃金旅程" in the Traditional Chinese language, which translates to "Golden Journey". "黃金旅程" is pronounced in standard Chinese as "huáng jīn lǔ chéng". On the final straight, Stay Gold closed a gap of approximately 5 lengths and caught up to Ekraar in the final strides and won by a head.^[9] After the race, Yutaka Take, who rode him, said, "Wings grew on his back." At the end of the season, Stay Gold was awarded by the Japan Racing Association with the JRA Special Award for becoming the first overseas G1 race winner that was born and trained in Japan. ^[a]

Although initially unplanned, fan outcry and a request from the JRA after his victory at Hong Kong led to Stay Gold's retirement ceremony being performed at Kyoto Racecourse on January 20, 2002.^[10][11]

Stay Gold won seven races out of 50 starts with 20 more podiums finishes. The data available is based on JBIS, netkeiba, racingpost and HKJC.^{[12][5][13][14]}

Legend:
  Turf   Dirt

At the end of his racing career, Stay Gold was retired to become a breeding stallion and proved to be a very successful sire, fathering 13 Group 1 winners. Orfevre won the Japanese Triple Crown and finished second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for two consecutive years. Gold Ship won six Grade 1 races including the Arima Kinen, Kikuka Shō, and Takarazuka Kinen twice; Dream Journey and Fenomeno also achieved considerable successes.

He died suddenly on February 5, 2015, at the age of 20, due to an arterial rupture.^[15]

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

An anthropomorphized version of Stay Gold appears in Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Satsumi Matsuda. She is depicted as a petite woman with dark-brown hair and slightly-torn trench coat who enjoys travelling for long periods of time.^[16] Initially, Stay Gold was represented by "Kin'iro Ryotei", a background character in the first season of the franchise's anime adaptation, before officially being featured in the Japanese version of the mobile game in 2025.^[17][18][19]

• List of racehorses

• Stay Gold wins Dubai Sheema Classic
• Stay Gold wins Hong Kong Vase